


something in the stars

by Ben_vs_Kylo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Artist Rey (Star Wars), Bucket List, F/M, Minor Finn/Rose Tico, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Ben Solo/Bazine, Same Age, a walk to remember au, but i'll tell you right now that no one dies, chapter count will probably change, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24195826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ben_vs_Kylo/pseuds/Ben_vs_Kylo
Summary: “One condition though, Solo.”“What’s that?”“You have to PROMISE not to fall in love with me.”“That’s not a problem.”In which the author tries to not make this a rewrite of A Walk To Remember
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	1. one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited about this story! A Walk to Remember is one of my favorite movies. I've got most of the story planned out, and I'm so excited to share it with you all!

Ben Solo sighs as he pulls up to the two cars parked outside of town. His headlights illuminate his group of friends standing around them for a moment before he flicks them off. While he had wholeheartedly agreed to come out tonight –in fact, he’d been the one to suggest the meeting time– he’s tired now. He stays in his seat for a few seconds, waiting for the end of the song playing from his phone, then kills the engine before tossing the phone in the glovebox and opening his door.

“You’re late,” Poe leans against his car as Ben exits his truck.

Ben and Poe have known each other since before either of them can remember. Their mothers were roommates in college and have stayed close ever since, leaving the boys to have a built-in best friend.

“I’m right on time, Dameron.”

It’s past 11 PM, dark outside, but the moon is almost full and the sky is clear save for a few clouds off in the distance, leaving plenty of light to see by. They’re gathered by a bridge that crosses a river. The water isn’t very fast, but it’s deep. Perfect for jumping. The bridge hangs somewhere between six and eight feet above the water, depending on the time of year. In the summer it’s crawling with high school kids, but right now it’s just Ben and his friends. Technically it’s private property, but the landowner, Mr. San Tekka, usually allows visitors to the bridge. Even had a rope swing installed on one of the tree branches that hang out over the water.

“Yeah, it’s Mitaka who’s late,” Hux calls from the other side of Poe’s car, an arm slung around Gwen’s shoulders. Ben spots Bazine leaning against Hux’s car, parked on the other side of Poe’s.

As if on cue, another car pulls up and out comes a skinny, dark haired boy. He looks around, and Ben can tell he’s a little nervous.

“You made it!” Poe pushes away from his car and pats the boy, Mitaka, on the back.

“Yeah, sorry I’m late. I got stuck behind some cows for a few minutes,” Mitaka replies.

Everyone collectively groans. Living in the most southwestern town you can get in Colorado without going into the Reservation means ranches, and ranches mean cows crossing the street. A lot.

“Oh it’s fine! Glad you made it through,” Gwen smiles at him.

Mitaka lets out a small laugh. “Me too.”

 _He’s definitely nervous._ Ben thinks as he strides around the cars to stand next to the newcomer. He’s always liked Mitaka. The kid is friendly, respectful to teachers, good at math.

“Hey, man. You ready?” Ben has to look down to meet his eye, just like with pretty much everyone else. Ben has been one of the tallest kids in his class for years. 

“I guess so.”

Hux approaches and grips Mitaka’s shoulder. “You know the drill?”

Mitaka nods. “Strip, jump off, swim back.”

“Be careful,” Bazine joins the group just then, avoiding looking at Ben.

It’s been two months since they broke up, and she still can’t look him in the eye. It wasn’t a _bad_ breakup, per se, but he knows her feelings were hurt. She was always more invested than he was, and he still does like her, just not like _that_. He wishes things between them could go back to the way it was before they dated. They’d also been friends for years, and dating had seemed like a natural step back then. They’d tried it for a few months, and while Ben is almost sure Bazine still feels differently, he’d decided it wasn’t a right fit.

“Ben here is gonna join you,” Poe says, his eyes moving between Ben and Bazine like he can feel the tension between them.

“Uh, correction. I’m _not_ jumping. I’ll stand watch on the bridge, but there’s no way I’m getting wet,” Ben glares at Poe.

“Okay, whatever. Let’s just go, okay? I’ve gotta be up for work in the morning,” Gwen cuts in.

Ben catches Bazine rolling her eyes. They all know Gwen doesn’t actually do much at the little boutique she works at besides texting Hux and eating snacks behind the register.

“I’m ready,” Mitaka sheds his jacket and grins. He and Ben make their way to the bridge, coming to a stop in the middle. They can hear the others chattering away about something or other that Ben honestly couldn’t care less about. He’s getting more drowsy by the minute and just wants to get this over with, go home and try to fall asleep while his dogs decide that his chest is the most comfortable spot in the house to rest their heads and sleep on either side of him instead of their own beds, just like they do most other nights.

Ben looks over the edge. The water is a little lower than usual for this time of year, but it shouldn’t be a problem. He turns back to Mitaka just as he’s pulling his shirt over his head.

“The water is moving West to East, so you’ll go over this side to go under the bridge,” he points to the West.

Mitaka nods and pulls off his shoes. “You guys aren’t gonna run off with my clothes, are you?”

Ben chuckles. “As far as I’m aware, no.”

“Good.” He looks up from where he’s crouched to gather his clothes into a pile. “Also, I’m keeping the underwear on.”

“I have literally no problem with that.”

Mitaka smiles and stands, looking over the edge of the bridge.

“Let’s go!” Poe calls out. “Before the sun comes up!”

Ben waves him off and rolls his eyes. Mitaka takes a deep breath and swings his legs over the railing. There’s about a foot of space between the rail and the edge; he hovers there for a moment and turns back to Ben.

“Have you done this?” he asks.

“A few times… It’s really not that bad. Hux is just dramatic and wants everything to be a big show,” Ben looks back to his friends. They’re all watching the bridge. Poe has his arm around Bazine’s shoulders, which she is half-heartedly swatting away with her hand and a small smile on her face; Gwen is leaning against Huz with his arm around her waist. Ben lets out a quiet yawn and turns back to Mitaka, who’s facing the water and holding on tightly to the railing. “When you’re in the air, try to twist around so you’re facing the same direction as the water. You ready?”

The boy nods, then turns to face the group watching from the sidelines. “Okay I’m ready!”

Poe and Gwen cheer, and Hux has a smirk on his face that Ben would, to be totally honest, like to smack off. He’s never been super close with the guy, and lately he’s been annoying Ben for reasons he can’t pin down.

“Three… Two… One!”

Ben watches Mitaka as he leaps off the bridge. He tries to twist around, but he’s not fast enough. Ben winces as the boy lands in the water at an odd angle with a loud splash. The others cheer, clearly they didn’t see how he had landed. Ben moves to the other side of the bridge just in time to see him floating out from under it. He’s not moving, just letting the slow current carry him. Something like fear twists in Ben’s stomach the longer Mitaka doesn’t lift his head.

 _He must’ve hit his head._ He thinks.

“Shit!”

Fully awake now, Ben grabs Mitaka’s discarded clothes and throws them to Poe, who has now noticed there’s something wrong and is approaching fast. Ben races off the bridge, followed closely by Poe and now Hux. The two girls stand together, their eyes widening in realization while they watch.

“Ben! Get him out!” Bazine clutches Gwen’s arm.

As Ben runs, he pulls off his jacket and briefly stops to pull off his shoes. Not bothering to take off anything else, he keeps running, a little further down from where Mitaka is slowly floating downstream.

“What happened?!” Hux nearly shouts as the three boys near the water.

“I don’t know,” Ben says, just before he runs into the river.

The cold doesn’t even register as he wades out a few feet before the riverbed drops, then swims against the lazy current to reach Mitaka. It takes just a few seconds before he’s able to reach out and grab him. He turns to the riverbank, where Poe and Hux have stepped into the shallows to help them out. Ben pulls on the boy’s arm and tries to keep both their heads above the water as he makes his way back.

“Come on, get him out,” Poe reaches for Mitaka’s arm as they near, and Hux helps him pull him out of Ben’s grasp.

Ben takes just a moment to breathe, then lifts himself out of the water. He helps Poe and Hux lay Mitaka onto the ground and freezes at the sight of a gash on his temple.

“He must’ve hit a rock when he went under,” Hux echoes Ben’s previous thoughts, a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

Ben really wants to just hit Hux, but refrains. His eyes sweep over the rest of his body, checking for any more cuts, but he doesn’t find any. Just a patch of reddened skin on his side from where he hit the water. It’ll probably be bruised by morning.

“Is he okay?” Gwen asks, rushing over with Bazine in tow.

“Well he’s alive,” Poe says. Ben carefully turns Mitaka onto his side as the boy starts coughing, expelling water from his windpipe. Poe glances at the gash on his head. “Might have a concussion though.”

“Who’s out there?” A voice cuts through the night and everyone freezes. Ben is the first to shake out of it.

“Get out of here,” he starts to shove Poe back toward the direction of the cars. “Guys, go. I’ll follow you.”

“Ben…” Bazine takes a step toward him but he stops her.

“Go. I’ll be fine.”

“Hello?” The voice is getting closer. “I can hear you!”

Poe grabs Bazine’s hand. “Come on.”

She relents, letting Poe pull her away to follow Hux and Gwen who have already started running. Ben turns back to Mitaka, who has finished his coughing and is now taking deep but rattled breaths. He leans closer to inspect the cut on the boy’s head. It’s bleeding heavily, the red running down the side of his face. 

Ben can feel his heart pounding in his chest as he moves to stand. Just as he’s straightening up, a flashlight turns in his direction. He takes a deep breath, he knows he’s about to get in massive trouble but he can’t just leave the kid laying here. He needs help. 

“Over here! I need your help!”

The beam of light lands on him. A face that Ben doesn’t recognize appears, the man’s gaze turning from slightly confused to serious as his eyes move down to Mitaka still on the ground.

“What happened?”

“He went under the bridge, I think he hit a rock or something,” Ben crouches back down beside the boy.

“He’s awake?” The man seems more concerned for the boy bleeding on the ground than angry at the trespassing. He moves closer to see the wound.

“Yes.” As if in response, Mitaka groans.

“Keep it that way. Could have a concussion. Don’t move him, I’m calling an ambulance.”

Ben nods as the man turns away to make the call. He’s not sure how to keep him awake, so he just starts talking to him. A few minutes later, the man returns.

“They should be here soon. Said to try and stop the bleeding if we can.”

Ben reaches for Mitaka’s shirt, laying in a pile with his other clothes where Poe must have left them before helping drag him out. He bundles it up and holds it against the cut.

“Who are you?” he asks after a moment, looking up at the stranger.

The man frowns. “I could ask you the same question.”

“I asked first,” Ben huffs, but shrinks back almost immediately, he knows he's in no position to snap at this man who just caught them trespassing.

“I’m Snap, Lorr’s nephew.”

“Lorr… you mean Mr. San Tekka?”

“That’s the one. The family took him to a care center about a week ago,” Snap sighs.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Ben looks down.

“It’s been a long time coming. He hasn’t got long left, we’d rather he be there than alone out here.” He pauses for a moment. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Ben.”

“What are you doing out here?”

Ben vaguely explains what happened, leaving out his other friends and toning down the “initiation” factor. When he’s finished, Snap looks past him and down to Mitaka.

“There’s a squad car coming with the ambulance. I didn’t say anything about trespassers, but I’m sure they’ll have questions. I’m not gonna force you to stay, but I hope you do the right thing,” he says.

Ben sighs. He knows he needs to stay, so he does.

While Snap waits with Mitaka, he trudges back to his truck and pulls a blanket out from the back. The cold has started to get to him, the cool night air mixed with his wet clothes. He scoops up his jacket and shoes as he returns.

Handing the blanket to Snap to drape over Mitaka, he pulls his shirt off and replaces it with his dry jacket. Then they sit and wait, talking to Mitaka to keep him awake.

* * *

Ben feels a warm nudge on his leg. He peeks under the table to see Chewie, tail quietly thumping on the floor, patiently waiting for whatever scrap of food he’ll be given. He sighs and slips a small piece of his toast to the dog. Satisfied for now, Chewie waddles off to the corner of the room where Threepio lounges on a dog bed. He watches the two of them until he hears his mother enter the kitchen and start a pot of coffee. He looks up at her tired face and feels a small twinge of guilt. 

The night before had been a long one. The ambulance and squad car had arrived shortly after Snap had called. As two paramedics loaded Mitaka into the vehicle, another checked over Ben for hypothermia just to be safe. After being urged to get out of the rest of his wet clothes and changing into spares he had no idea where in his truck, the officer had indeed asked Ben and Snap a few questions. While the man hadn’t felt the need to press any trespassing charges, he, Ben, and the officer had agreed that some sort of community service would be discussed once Ben returned to school from the weekend. 

He had briefly considered ratting out his friends, since it hadn’t been _his_ idea to be out that night, but decided against it, and felt that it would be easier to just comply instead of trying to talk his way out of it. After it had all been settled, Ben agreed to let the officer follow him home and talk to his mother. 

It had been a little past one in the morning when the officer left, and another half hour before Ben and Leia retired to their rooms. She had asked him to tell her what happened and he explained in more detail than he had given the others. In the end, she hadn’t been as angry with him as he had expected –her reasoning when he asked being that he had gone after Mitaka to help him– but thought him a little foolish for taking all the blame when his only contribution to planning had been suggesting when to go.

Now, she sits across from him at the table, watching the two dogs for a moment before turning to him. “I called your dad.”

“Why?” Ben tenses.

“Because he’s your father and he should know what’s going on in your life.”

“Is he coming home, then?”

“No.”

“Of course he’s not,” Ben scoffs. He’s never had the best relationship with his father, and it’s only gotten worse in the past few years. Han has been getting bigger and better cases, taking him out of town more often than he’s been at home.

“Ben… You know he’s busy.” Leia sighs.

“I know,” he says quietly, looking down. As much as he doesn’t like it, he understands that his dad’s job is important, to both their family and his clients.

“He said he wants to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to him. Not today.”

Ben stands and moves to the sink to rinse off his plate. He dries it and puts it away, then pulls out his mother’s favorite mug. He pours and prepares her coffee just how she likes it, sets it infront of her and places his hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to today, just soon,” Leia covers his hand with her much smaller one.

He sighs but nods, he knows he can’t avoid his dad forever. “Soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos help me write just a little faster ;)
> 
> This first chapter is basically an intro to Ben, but I want to give a little more info down here :)
> 
> Even though I have the majority of this story planned, I don't know how often I'll be able to update. I'm posting as the chapters are written, I don't have anything other than an outline done in advance. I don’t consider myself a writer, so this will probably be slow going😅
> 
> I'm trying to not have this be a rewrite of the movie, but there will be a lot of the important scenes and great lines from the film reworked into this story, just like this chapter is very similar to the opening scene of the movie.
> 
> The next chapter will introduce Rey, and then every chapter after that will (probably) have both perspectives.
> 
> I know having Finn be in the friend group would make more sense but I’m convinced Ben and Poe were friends as kids so here we are
> 
> I currently have no plans for any Ben backstory that includes Snoke. That might change as the story develops, but as of right now, our boy has suffered enough canonically. Not that Rey deserves to suffer, either...
> 
> The town they live in doesn't have a name yet, but it's location is based on Cortez, Colorado. It'll come into play later on in the story ;)
> 
> In this story, Han is a lawyer. Which is weird, I know. But that will also have a role in the story later on. Also, unlike in the movie, Han and Leia are not separated.


	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW: Semi-vague descriptions of abuse toward the end. There is a marker (*) indicating when that part starts. There is a brief summary in the end notes for anyone who may want to skip that section.**

“You hear about Mitaka?” Rose asks the second Rey opens the passenger door and climbs into the car.

“What about him?” She sets her backpack on the floor in front of her seat. Rey has never been one to indulge in gossip, and she doesn’t even really know Mitaka other than his name and what he looks like, but Rose seems to always know everything about everyone around them. Which, given the size of their little town, isn’t _that_ hard.

“He’s in the hospital.”

Rey shuts the door and Rose starts to drive, heading in the direction of Main Street. Which, also given the size of their little town, isn’t very impressive. A few shops and a diner line the street, as well as the bank and a hardware store. Most businesses in town are scattered throughout the nearby streets. But tonight, the diner is their destination.

It’s Sunday evening, the sun setting low behind the mountains in the distance, painting the sky over their little town in orange and yellow. By the time their short drive is over, Rey has only half listened to the other girl tell her about how she heard from someone who heard from someone else that the kid had been admitted to the hospital with a bad concussion very early on Saturday morning and move on to some other bit of gossip.

“-and so Kaydel literally slapped him,” Rose is finishing just as they both get out of the car, school bags in tow.

Rey spots Finn through the window almost immediately and lets out a quiet sigh of relief. She loves Rose to death, but sometimes listening -or half listening- to her ramble on can be tiring. The two girls enter the diner and plop down in the booth Finn has saved for the three of them, Rose next to him and Rey on the opposite side with their school bags in the corner of her bench.

“You two hungry? It’s on me tonight,” Finn looks over a menu laying on the table, like they all don’t order the same thing every time they go to the diner. A burger with extra onions and fries –that she always ends up sharing with Rose– for Rey, loaded cheeseburger and cheese fries for Finn, grilled chicken sandwich for Rose.

Rey sighs. She sometimes has a hard time with her friends’ generosity, especially when money is involved. She always feels like she has to pay them back, no matter how many times they tell her it isn’t necessary, but she does pay them back when she’s able to. But she’s hungry, and that burger is sounding better and better by the second. “The usual, please.”

“Coming right up,” Finn grins and waves over a waitress. The three of them place their orders. 

“I’ll have those out for you in about fifteen minutes!” the perky waitress tells them and rushes off to the kitchen.

Once the girl has left the table, Rose looks over at Rey. “We should work on that assignment while we wait.”

Rey nods and hands Rose her bag. That’s why they all met up tonight. The two girls are in a particularly hard but interesting history class that Finn had survived the previous semester. The teacher, Mr. Yoda, likes to include obscure events from no particular time period or part of the world that sound more like folklore than anything else. Attending the class itself is entertaining and both girls enjoy it, but homework assignments are always difficult and Finn has agreed to help them with this particular worksheet.

They pull out their papers and show Finn what it is they’re working on, a list of names they have to match with events or places. Rey has already finished a few, but she doubts they’re correct. Finn pulls Rose’s paper toward him and looks it over.

“ _Peter Stumpp, Jack Fiddler, Elizabeth Báthory…_ Oh! She was the countess who murdered like hundreds of people. And I think this Stumpp guy was accused of being a werewolf who also murdered people,” he says excitedly, like he’s very proud he remembers this.

“That’s just great, Finn. Can you like, not yell about murder?” Rose shushes him.

Rey chuckles and writes the answers on her paper.

By the time their food arrives, the three of them have all but finished the assignment. As they eat, their topic of conversation turns from werewolves and murderers to other, more relevant things.

Things like…

“Have you heard about Mitaka?” Rose turns to Finn. Rey groans internally, but fully listens to the story this time when Finn shakes his head ‘no’.

“Huh…” he stares past Rey’s head at the padding of the booth, as if deep in thought.

“‘Huh…’ What?” Rose prompts after a moment of silence.

“This was Friday night, Saturday morning?” Finn asks.

“Yeah… why?” Rose steals a fry from Rey’s plate.

“It’s just… I can’t remember what time it was but I’m pretty sure I saw a police car follow Ben’s truck to his house that night.”

“Wait, Ben as in like Ben Solo?” Rey cuts in. She hardly knows Ben, just from sharing a few classes with him, but she’s always thought he was kinda cute. A jerk sometimes, but still cute.

“Yeah. I wonder… I wonder if he was involved at all,” Finn shrugs and turns his attention to his food.

“No idea,” Rose says. She takes Finn's lead, busying herself with eating her sandwich and Rey follows, eating in a comfortable silence for a while.

“So…” Finn finishes the last bite of his cheeseburger. “You gonna be at the center this week, Rey?”

“They haven’t told me otherwise, so yeah. Tuesday and Thursday, then tutoring on Wednesday,” Rey picks up a fry.

“Teaching your art class again?”

“Yeah.”

“Remind me why you do this?” Rose asks. “It doesn’t sound like you enjoy it.”

“Volunteering looks good on college applications. Plus, anything to get out of that stuffy little house.”

“Do you actually like it though?” 

“I do. I like being with the kids, but I don’t get why the center lets me teach them how to do art and it stresses me out sometimes.”

“You’re a great artist, Rey. And I think the kids like you too,” Finn says.

“Thanks, Finn,” Rey smiles and ducks her head.

“Speaking of that stuffy house, what time do you have to be home?” Rose asks.

Rey pulls her phone out of her pocket and sighs at the time, placing the phone on the table. “In like 20 minutes.”

“I can drive you back in a few minutes if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. I think I’ll just walk.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah, it’s not that far. Thanks, though.” Rey starts to pack up her stuff, finishing another few fries before sliding out of the booth.

“Alright, call if you change your mind.”

Rey chuckles. “I’ll let you know. Finn, thanks for dinner. And homework help.”

“Anytime, Peanut.”

“See you tomorrow?” Rose hands Rey her phone she’d almost left on the table.

“Oh thanks,” she pockets the phone. “Yeah I’ll see you at school.”

She smiles again and waves goodbye to her friends before turning and walking out the door.

She heads down the street and turns left at the corner, back to her least favorite place in the world. Not that she’s been many places in her life. But the small house with a total of five rooms that is no place for a child –no matter what the social workers say– is at the very bottom of her list.

When she was 12 years old, after filtering through a few group homes, Rey came to live with a Mr. Unkar Plutt through the foster system. Occasionally other kids would come to stay with them; usually for just a few days, but never longer than a month or two. They were always in the process of being adopted, or waiting for another family to get their foster license renewed.

But never her. Rey never left. Never got a call about a prospective family looking to adopt, or that her biological family wanted her to come home. And the older she got, she knew it was less likely that either of those things would happen. But Plutt was intent to keep her, if only to pocket the government stipend every month. 

So she fell into a routine. She made friends, something she rarely did before. Rose and Finn had approached her a few weeks after she arrived, but it took a good six months before she allowed herself to call them her friends. She spends time on her schoolwork, something she didn’t really see the point in doing before. And she tries her best to stay out of Plutt’s way.

Her friends know she doesn't like Plutt. They know he's not a good person. They just don't know the extent of it.

*The man is unpleasant. To say the least. He complains almost daily about Rey not doing her chores, which she actually does pretty thoroughly. He leaves town at least once a month for a few days, leaving her to her own devices and solidifying her theory that he has at least one –maybe more– illegal operation running out of the tiny house they live in. And then there is the drinking.

He’s an angry and clumsy drunk. It’s gotten worse in the last few years. He never touches her, which she is beyond thankful for. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t scare her. He yells. Things about how no one wants her, how she’s a waste of space, that the only reason he keeps her around is for the money he receives –she is well aware of that, though.

And he throws things. His aim isn’t the best, so she usually escapes to her room unscathed. Sometimes she’ll get nicked and be left with a small scratch or bruise, but never anything big enough or often enough to cause suspicion from anyone else.

Sometimes she wishes she had the guts to speak up, to tell someone about it. But she’s heard enough stories from other kids before she came here to know that if she does, she’ll be taken out of the home. That part doesn’t bother her, but the town is small enough that there aren’t any other foster parents nearby. So being taken out of the home means she’ll likely have to go to a different area. Leave her friends and her school and everything she’s grown to love about this tiny town. 

And now she’s close enough to turning 18 that it would just be a hassle to move somewhere else, especially since she’d most likely be leaving that place once the school year is finished. So she stays quiet. Plutt somehow passes inspections, and she stays out of his way as much as she can.

Rey makes it up the front steps and into the house with five minutes to spare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW section summary: Basically, she's been with Plutt since she was 12(she's now almost 18). He drinks regularly, when he's drunk he doesn't actually touch her but he yells and throws things. She wants to leave plutt but she doesn't want to leave her friends so she doesn't tell anyone. *WHICH IS NOT GOOD, OK? IF YOU NEED HELP, DON'T BE LIKE REY*  
> (Note: my knowledge of the U.S. foster system comes 100% from watching The Fosters, so there might be some inaccurate info in there)
> 
> The history class the girls are in will probably have no importance to the story, but it's the type of history class I would have LOVED to take in high school. (If that stuff interests you and you like podcasts, may I suggest 'Lore'?)
> 
> Not gonna lie, I hated writing this chapter cause it's so boring. But it introduces Rey so it's important. Next chapter will hopefully be a little more interesting... ;)  
> 


	3. three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it’s been a while. Tbh I haven’t touched this in months, so here’s a super late update.
> 
> I’d suggest rereading at least chapter 2, I’ve changed a few details in there that are relevant to this chapter. Also, if you remember from the first chapter, Ben and Bazine dated for a little while. That’s important for this one as well

Ben slouches in the chair across the desk from the principal’s chair. He’s been summoned to her office to learn what his sentence will be. He taps his fingers against his leg in time with the ticking clock on the wall. He’s been dreading this meeting all weekend.

He’s not particularly worried about whatever it is they’ll make him do, but he’s had time to rethink the situation. He should’ve ratted out his friends. Or at least Hux. The whole thing _was_ his idea after all. He could have had someone else to share the punishment with. Or avoided this altogether. So no, he’s not worried about what it is he’ll end up doing, he’s just annoyed he let himself get into this.

“Sorry to make you wait, Ben,” Ms. Holdo enters the room and sits down in her chair.

Amylin Holdo is a tall, usually soft spoken woman. The students at the school think she’s cool because she’s kept her hair purple for years. Ben has known her for his entire life, as she’s been friends with both of his parents since before he was born. Which, to Ben, makes this even more uncomfortable than it needs to be. He can’t wait to get out of this small town where everyone and their dog knows everyone else.

“It’s fine,” he looks up from the small stain on the floor he’s been staring at, straightening in his chair.

Holdo smiles at him, then turns to her computer. Ben can see her eyes scanning something on the screen. After a moment, she turns back to him. 

“Before anything else, I want to thank you for helping Mitaka. His parents let me know he’ll still be in the hospital for another day or two. He’s got a concussion and a cracked rib, but he’ll be fine. We don’t know when exactly he’ll return to school though.”

Ben looks down at his hands. He hadn’t heard anything about Mitaka yet. “That’s good.”

“But… there still needs to be some sort of consequence. What you were doing was dangerous and could have ended up a lot worse. Not to mention you were technically trespassing.”

He _could_ just come clean. Blame the whole thing on Hux. Maybe even Poe. But there’s just something in the back of his mind that tells him to keep his mouth shut. So he just nods.

Holdo looks back to her computer for a few seconds, then turns back to Ben.

“First thing is the community center. They need some janitorial help just for the next three weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You’ll go after school for about an hour, it really just depends on what they need done. Someone from the center will email you with more information by the end of the day if you’re okay with me giving them your contact information.”

Ben sighs and nods, looking down and focusing on a pen sitting on the desk between them. “That’s fine.”

“Good. You’ll start that tomorrow. The other is tutoring at the middle school. There’s a small group of students who go every Wednesday for an hour and a half after school. You’ll join them until the end of term in five weeks. If, by the end of term, you’d like to continue going, you’re more than welcome to. You’re a senior with easy classes, so I don’t expect either of these to affect your schoolwork but we can make adjustments if need be.” She pauses for a moment. “Do you have any questions for me?”

A thought occurs to him just then. He looks up. “Will this affect me graduating?”

Holdo smiles and shakes her head. “No, Ben. That’s still months away, so don’t stress about it. As long as you follow through on what we’ve discussed, you’ll still be set to walk at graduation.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Holdo stands, followed closely by Ben.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” she asks as she walks around the desk.

He shakes his head as she reaches the door and opens it for him. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Alright. Just let me know. I’ll send you a copy of your schedule. Oh and Ben?”

He stops just as he passes through the doorway and turns to see her smiling.

“Say hello to you mother for me.”

“I will.” He gives her a small smile and nods, then turns to leave.

* * *

The community center isn’t much. The building isn’t terribly big, but it’s taken care of well enough. The interior consists of a lobby with a bathroom, a small gym surrounded by a running track, a small pool that not many people visit but is still kept up, and a basketball court that is more often than not used for other things, like today. Today there is a group of older ladies in one corner, making quilts and gossiping quietly to each other.

In the opposite corner sits a few tables splattered with paint, covered in art supplies, and occupied by a group of kids, all between the ages of 10 and 12. They clean up their stations, putting supplies back into the correct bins, four in total. Rey walks between the tables, chatting with a few of the kids and helping them put away their things.

“Rey!” a girl with thick, long blonde hair gets her attention.

“What’s up?” Rey turns to her and smiles.

“Wait first, how old are you?” the girl grins mischievously.

“I’m 17.” she replies, curious as to where this is going.

“Do you have a boyfriend then?”

Rey giggles and shakes her head. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Well why not?”

She shrugs. “Never got around to it, I guess.”

“Wait, have you ever kissed anyone?” the girl is practically bouncing in anticipation for the answer.

Rey can feel her cheeks heat slightly as she smiles down at her. “Yes, I have. Now hurry up, I just saw your mom waiting for you.”

The girl grins again and puts away her last few items before turning to leave. She seems to change her mind because she pivots back and steps up to Rey. She wraps her arms around her waist and Rey hugs her back after a brief moment of confusion.

“Bye, Rey!” the girl says as she lets go.

“See you on Thursday.” Rey smiles and waves to her as she leaves.

The girl was the last one to go, so Rey walks between the tables again to sweep for any stray supplies. When she finds none, she stacks the four small bins full of supplies so she can put them in the storage closet in the lobby.

She makes it to the door with her stack fairly easily, balancing them between her hands. She turns and backs up against the door to push it open. Just as she steps away from the door into the lobby, something very solid bumps into her shoulder, also knocking the top bin to the floor and spilling the contents.

“Shit, sorry,” the person mumbles as they both kneel to pick them up.

Rey looks up from the floor to see Ben Solo watching her as he puts things back into the bin. His dark hair hangs over his eyes as he ducks his head to avoid her gaze.

“It’s alright, at least it’s only the brushes,” she gives him a small smile as they pick up the last few. “The paint would have been a lot worse.”

They both stand, the bin in Ben’s hands. She has to crane her neck to look at his face. _When did he get so tall?_

He sets the bin on top of her stack and it’s not until he takes a step back that she realizes how close they had been standing.

“Thanks.”

Ben opens his mouth to say something, but right at that moment, a group of kids she knows to be his friends walk in through the front door.

Poe she likes. They’ve had a few classes together and he’s always been friendly. She doesn’t really know Bazine, she seems nice enough, but her supermodel-like looks have always intimidated Rey just a little bit. Gwen, she doesn’t really know either, but she’s not too keen on getting to know her in the first place. She just _looks_ like she’s mean. And Hux, well, Rey dislikes him almost as much as Plutt. She doesn’t really have a solid reason as to why, other than he makes her uncomfortable. She’s not sure how the group all ended up as friends. They all seem so different.

“Benny!” Poe loudly exclaims as Ben turns to them. Poe spots Rey and gives her a little wave, which she returns.

She hears Ben mutter something under his breath that vaguely sounds like ‘ _fuck’_ , but she can’t be sure.

“I swear to god, Dameron. Stop yelling,” Hux rolls his eyes.

“Why are you swearing to something you don’t believe in?” Poe retorts.

Hux looks about ready to smack Poe upside the head. And even though this isn’t her conversation, Rey can’t resist poking the bear just a little.

“You know, Einstein said the more he studied the universe, the more he believed in a higher power.”

All eyes turn to her. Hux with annoyance, the two girls with bored expressions, and Ben and Poe with amused curiosity.

“If there is a higher power, then why is it he can’t get you a new sweater?”

The jab should hurt her but it really doesn’t. She knows she’s not the best dressed. It takes all of one second for her to think of a retort. “He’s too busy looking for your brain.”

Hux just stands there with an extremely annoyed look on his face while Poe erupts in peals of laughter. Ben is trying not to laugh, while the girls are covering their mouths to hold back their giggles.

She smiles as she turns to the storage closet in the corner. While putting the supplies away, she heard Ben tell Hux, “It’s a joke, you can laugh.”

On her way out the front door, she glances back to the group and catches Ben looking her way again. She gives him a small smile.

She doesn’t notice the slight blush spreading across his cheeks as she leaves.

* * *

Ben hasn’t seen Rey Niima in months. This is the first school year since she moved to their tiny town that they haven’t had at least one class together. He hasn’t really even thought about her since the last time he saw her. They’ve never been friends. And while he’s never thought her unattractive or really even given a thought about her appearance, he can’t remember ever being that close to her before now, and he comes to the quick conclusion that Rey Niima is _beautiful_. He can’t stop thinking about her eyes, the soft brown seeming to melt out into green, even long after she’s left the building.

While Ben hopes Rey didn’t see him blushing, he knows Poe did. He knows because when he turns his way and looks at him, Poe is already staring at him and raises his eyebrow just enough for Ben to notice the quizzical expression.

His first mistake of the night is thinking Poe will drop it.

Later, when they’ve all settled in at Poe’s place to watch a movie, Ben feels his phone buzz in his pocket.

 **Poe:** _kitchen. Now_

Ben groans inwardly and gets up. If he doesn’t, Poe will no doubt make a scene. He quietly makes his way to the kitchen, Poe following a minute later.

“So.”

“What?” Ben leans against the counter.

“What was that earlier?” Poe starts bustling around, pulling a large bowl from a cabinet, opening popcorn bags.

“You’re gonna have to be more specific.” Ben follows Poe’s movements with his eyes.

“At the center. With Rey.”

He sighs. “Don’t know what you mean.”

He knows _exactly_ what Poe means.

Poe stops what he’s doing and looks Ben in the eye. “I saw you blush when she left, man. _Blush_.”

“It was hot in there.”

“Yeah, okay. Keep your secrets, but when you go to Hell for being a liar, tell Satan ‘hi’ for me,” Poe opens the microwave and sets a bag of popcorn inside, turning it on.

“Will do.” Ben pushes away from the counter and leaves the kitchen.

His second mistake of the night is offering Bazine a ride home after the movie is finished. The drive is fairly short, only a few minutes, and it’s spent quietly.

He finds himself again wishing things between them could go back to the way it was before they dated, but he knows that will be hard to achieve.

Once he pulls up to her house, he’s expecting her to just get out of the car and go inside, maybe say goodnight. Possibly thank him for the ride. So he’s surprised when Bazine just sits there for a moment, hand on the door handle. She looks like she’s debating on saying something, so he turns toward her in his seat, left arm resting on the steering wheel, his body leaning slightly toward her. He’s known Bazine long enough to know she’ll eventually say what she has to say, he just has to wait for her to be ready.

It doesn’t take as long as he thought it would. She lets go of the handle and turns to face him, but doesn’t look at him for a moment. Then she looks up, face determined.

“Thanks for the ride,” she says quietly.

“You’re welcome,” Ben nods, then waits. He knows she’s not done yet. And while he definitely thinks she might be about to get mad at him about the breakup or something similar, he’s not going to just kick her out of the car.

Bazine turns away and takes a deep breath. “Ben, I…”

She turns back to him and surprises him by leaning forward, her intent clear by the way her eyes are locked onto his mouth.

Ben sighs as he leans away. The crestfallen expression on her face causes him to turn back and face the front of the car, both hands gripping the steering wheel.

“I’m sorry, Baz. I can’t.” He keeps his eyes on his hands.

“Right,” she huffs.

He doesn’t dare look at her now, and any hope of reconciling their friendship is dashed when he hears the passenger door quickly open and slam shut.

Ben closes his eyes, leans his head against the wheel between his hands, and groans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s been so long! Not sure when I’ll update again but I appreciate anyone who is sticking with me! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!  
> 2 things-  
> 1: The conversation Rey has with the girl is definitely based on one I had with one of MY 11 year old students(I’m an aide at a school), so if it seems awkward, that’s cause kids are awkward lol  
> 2: I NEEDED to have the ‘he’s too busy looking for your brain’ quote from the movie but I didn’t want Rey to be the ‘pastor’s daughter’ character the Jamie is and I couldn’t think of anything else so if THAT exchange seems awkward too, now you know why

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr- @benvskylo  
> Tiktok- @reylo.fics01


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